Prototype Railroading: Locomotive Wishlist

In the past 150 years that railroads have been a part of the American culture, locomotives have certainly come a long way.  Technology has also developed considerably, leading to many of the changes that have taken place in all those years.  When railroads were new to the world, trains were operated from open platforms on locomotives.  Not only did the cab, so to speak, lack air conditioning, on very early locomotives it even lacked a roof!  Despite all the changes and additions in the way of comforts, it seems a few things have been left out.  Some of them seem odd to leave out.  There are a few things that all locomotives would have, if railroaders ran the railroad.

First, let's talk about some of the basic things.  One of my biggest frustrations is actually with our newest locomotives.  A Conductor always has some paperwork to do, whether it is a night time trip or a daytime trip.  Because of that, there needs to be a reading lamp above the desk on the locomotive, so the paperwork can be seen.  At night, it is very nice to have an adjustable light, one that can be dimmed.  That helps to prevent everyone on the engine from being blinded when it is time to make some notes on the paperwork!  Some of the newest locomotives in the fleet, in order to save a couple of dollars, were built without an adjustable reading lamp.  That means, to do paperwork, the Conductor either needs to use a flashlight or go blind for a few minutes.

Another fairly basic feature, which would be really nice to have is windshield washers.  Some locomotives have them, but is is actually kind of unusual.  If the windshield is dirty, on many engines, there is no convenient way to clean it.  Sometimes running the wipers for a few minutes works.  If not, then another option is to turn on the wipers, grab a couple bottles of water, and run out to the nose, and try to fling water form the bottles onto the windshield.  Obviously, that is not the most effective way to clean a windshield, but it is better than nothing!  It seems like it would be pretty simple to put a small tank for washer fluid and run a couple small rubber hoses up to the windshield, like on a car, or pretty much anything else!

Something else that would be really nice is a standard, 120 volt outlet.  There usually is an outlet in the cab of a locomotive, but it is 74 volts, direct current, which is just weird!  Some things will still run off that, although slower than normal.  Having a 120 volt outlet, like standard outlets in a house, would be really nice.  And I know it is possible because I have seen it in Canadian locomotives!

If railroaders ran the railroad, there would probably be a few luxury items in each locomotive too.  I think microwaves would be the first thing anyone would like to see put in locomotives.  A hot meal on a long shift, especially on a cold day, is quite a luxury, but it really should not have to be.  Again, this is something I have seen (and used) on Canadian locomotives.  They are not fancy microwaves.  They are pretty basic, with just a knob to indicate cooking time.  But that is good enough to make food hot!  Canadian locomotives typically also feature a hot plate and coffee pot, which would be really nice, but seeing as we cannot even get a microwave, it seems hard to imagine having all that!

The seats we have are generally pretty nice actually.  They really have to be, considering the amount of time we are expected to spend in them.  For a long time, most locomotives featured leather seats, because they were easy to clean.  The one disadvantage is if you are sitting in the sun in a leather seat, you will have to peel yourself out of it.  On more recent locomotives, fabric seats seem to be the norm.  They are harder to clean, but they do not stick on a hot day.

So, if locomotives are missing the above features, what do they have?  Well, it is pretty standard at this point to have heating and air conditioning.  Usually they are both kept in good working order, so the temperature stays pretty comfortable inside the cab.  They are not controlled by a thermostat though, so when the heat is on, it just keeps getting hotter until someone turns it off.  When the air conditioner is on, it keeps getting colder until it is turned off.  Actually, on a warm summer day the problem is not a hot cab, but rather a freezing cold cab!

Also standard on locomotives are a small refrigerator and a toilet.  The lavatory is in the nose, at the front of the cab.  It is nothing fancy, really just a square steel can with a plastic toilet seat bolted to the top, but it beats trying to hold it for a 12 hour run!  The fridge is small, but it is enough for a couple people to put their lunch in for the day.  Usually there are some water bottles in there too, provided by the railroad.

The seats we have are generally pretty comfortable.  They swivel, recline, and are adjustable about six different ways.  The only thing I might add to them is some sort of cushioning.  They are bolted to the floor, and while the height is adjustable, there is nothing to absorb some of the bumps.  Once in a while we see an engine with air ride seats, but that is an unusual treat.

While the comforts of locomotives has obviously come a long way since railroads came to be, there are still a few things that ought to be made standard.  Things like an adjustable reading light and a windshield washer seem like some pretty obvious, and simple things to build in a locomotive, yet somehow they have been overlooked.